Come ‘home’ again with new exhibit
at Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
‘Here I Have Lived: Home in Illinois’
opens March 23
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[April 04, 2023]
A
major new exhibit opening next week at the Abraham Lincoln
Presidential Library and Museum will explore the elusive idea of
“home” and the many different ways Illinoisans have made this state
their home over the centuries.
“Here I Have Lived: Home in Illinois” tells the stories of 31 people
who lived in Illinois. Some achieved tremendous success, others
endured terrible hardships, and many fought to make the world a
better place. But all of them were shaped by their years in
Illinois.
The exhibit includes
Black Hawk, the Sauk leader who refused to be driven away from the
land where he grew up
Ritta DeFreitas, a young immigrant who worked for Abraham and Mary
Lincoln.
Michelle Obama, who started out in a Chicago bungalow
and wound up in the White House
Richard Pryor, who grew up in Peoria and used humor to make
Americans face difficult truths.
The exhibit opens March 23 and runs through Jan. 21, 2024, in the
museum’s Illinois Gallery, a space used for highlighting Illinois
history as part of the ALPLM’s role as the state historical library.
The exhibit is free with regular museum admission.
“Illinois has welcomed refugees and entrepreneurs. It has produced
artists and reformers. It offered a helping hand to some and a cold
shoulder to others. Every one of them had a different idea of what
it meant to call Illinois their home,” said Christina Shutt,
executive director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and
Museum. “What could be a better way to connect with people of the
past, both famous and unknown, than by focusing on the very personal
idea of home?”
The stories are told through photographs and rare artifacts.
Visitors will see a photo locket carried by Mary Lincoln, a first
edition of Black Hawk’s autobiography and Ronald Reagan’s college
letterman sweater.
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They’ll also find a sculpture
that was displayed in the Lincoln home, a table designed by
Frank Lloyd Wright and a Supreme Court ruling that changed the
life of playwright Lorraine Hansberry.
Visitors will be able to listen to interviews with
current Illinois residents about their thoughts on home. Questions
throughout the exhibit will prompt visitors to think about what home
means to them, and they’ll be able to share their answers at the
end.
The exhibit takes its name from a phrase Lincoln used when saying
farewell to the city of Springfield for the final time: “Here I have
lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an old
man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried. I now
leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return …”
The exhibit is sponsored in part by Isringhausen
Imports of Illinois.
The mission of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
is to inspire civic engagement through the diverse lens of Illinois
history and sharing with the world the life and legacy of Abraham
Lincoln. We pursue this mission through a combination of rigorous
scholarship and high-tech showmanship built on the bedrock of the
ALPLM’s unparalleled collection of historical materials – roughly 13
million items from all eras of Illinois history.
For more information, visit
www.PresidentLincoln.illinois.gov.
[Christopher Wills] |